Uropeltis rubromaculata facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Uropeltis rubromaculata |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Order: | Squamata |
| Suborder: | Serpentes |
| Family: | Uropeltidae |
| Genus: | Uropeltis |
| Species: |
U. rubromaculata
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| Binomial name | |
| Uropeltis rubromaculata (Beddome, 1867)
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| Synonyms | |
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The Uropeltis rubromaculata is also known as the red-spotted earth snake. This snake is a type of shieldtail snake. It is not venomous, meaning it is not poisonous and cannot hurt you with a bite. This special snake lives only in southern India. It is a unique animal found nowhere else in the world!
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Where the Red-Spotted Earth Snake Lives
This snake makes its home in southern India. You can find it in the Western Ghats mountain range. Specifically, it lives in the Anaimalai Hills and Nilgiri Hills. These areas are high up, between 1,200 and 1,500 meters (about 3,900 to 4,900 feet) above sea level.
What Kind of Home Does It Like?
The red-spotted earth snake loves to live in forests. It prefers places between 600 and 1,800 meters (about 2,000 to 5,900 feet) high. But these snakes are quite adaptable! They have also been found in places changed by humans. This includes farms, piles of compost, and even drains.
What Does This Snake Look Like?
The red-spotted earth snake has an olive-brown back. It has some cool red spots on the front part of its body. There is also a red spot on each side of its tail. Its belly is a mix of yellow and red colors.
Adult snakes can grow to be about 34 centimeters (about 13 inches) long. That's about the length of a ruler!
Snake Skin and Scales
Snakes are covered in scales. The scales on the back of this snake are in 17 rows in the middle of its body. Near its head, they are in 19 rows. The scales on its belly are much wider than the scales next to them.
The snake's snout (its nose area) is rounded. Its eyes are small, about half the size of the shield-like scale around them.
How the Red-Spotted Earth Snake Behaves
This snake is a ground-dweller. It also likes to burrow, meaning it digs and lives underground. This is why it's called an "earth snake"!
Life Cycle and Reproduction
The red-spotted earth snake gives birth to live young. This is a special way of having babies called ovoviviparous. It means the eggs hatch inside the mother's body, and then the babies are born alive.
Images for kids
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A red-spotted earth snake in its natural habitat.
 | Sharif Bey |
 | Hale Woodruff |
 | Richmond Barthé |
 | Purvis Young |
